Pollution is the new covid: Doctors warn Chhattisgarh is unprepared

Raipur | Correspondent: If you think Covid-19 has gone completely and it is fine now, that's a dangerous misconception. A warning from an international lung specialist clearly says in India and especially rapidly urbanizing states like Chhattisgarh, air pollution has become the next major health hazard.

If the issue keeps being ignored, thinking this is a problem just for Delhi then in coming years hospitals in Chhattisgarh would face several patients suffering from respiratory and heart diseases.

The senior lung specialist Dr. Manish Gautam working as a consultant pulmonologist in Liverpool, UK, who has also served as a former member of the Indian government's COVID advisory committee has stated unequivocally that while there is talk about air pollution in India the reality is far more frightening. If this is no taken seriously, the situation will become dire in the coming years.

The warning is not just limited to the North India but is also a major alarm for the states like Chhattisgarh, where industrialization, mining, and rapidly growing cities have already made the air heavily polluted.

According to the doctor, the damage has been done to millions of people living in North India which can be seen in the hospitals, is still a smaller part of the problem. The real danger is hidden beneath the surface, where a massive wave of airway diseases is growing undetected and untreated. The similar situation is rising in Chhattisgarh where people are avoiding problem thinking of it as a seasonal cough, fatigue, or the effects of growing age.

The situation in Chhattisgarh is critical because the developmental model in state has long been based on coal, power plants, iron-ore mining and heavy industries. In cities including the capital, near-by like Durg, Bhilai, Bilaspur, Raigarh the air often seems clear but as per the doctors it is not.

Pollution does not always feel visible irritant. Often invisible, it directly impacts the lungs, heart, and brain. This is why till the time people suddenly arrive hospital with shortness of breath, chest tightness, or heart problems, by then it gets often too late.   

Senior doctors working in the UK have warned that illnesses linked to air pollution are steadily increasing, but this growing burden is neither fully reflected in government data nor widely understood by the public. According to doctors, many young adults who consider themselves healthy are now reporting long-term respiratory problems, allergies, asthma and repeated infections for the first time.

During December, hospitals in Delhi recorded a 20–30 percent rise in respiratory patients, with a large number of new cases. Health experts say this trend is now becoming visible in other parts of the country as well, including Chhattisgarh.

Cardiologists stress that there is no longer any doubt about the connection between air pollution and heart, lung, neurological and other systemic diseases. However, early symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, mild cough, and irritation in the eyes are often ignored. In Chhattisgarh, people living near mines, factories and busy roads, as well as schoolchildren and working adults, frequently dismiss these warning signs as routine problems.

Professor Derek Connolly, consultant cardiologist at Midland Metropolitan University Hospital in Birmingham, has described air pollution as a “silent killer” that can damage the heart even when the air appears clean. He warned that states like Chhattisgarh, where pollution is often seen as an urban problem, face serious risks due to industrial emissions, rising vehicle numbers and construction dust.

The 2025 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report highlights the scale of the crisis. It estimates that over 1.7 million deaths in India in 2022 were linked to PM2.5 pollution, including 2.69 lakh deaths caused by petrol-based road transport alone. Experts say these national figures indicate a severe threat for industrial states such as Chhattisgarh.

Health specialists now argue that limited measures are no longer enough. Drawing parallels with large-scale tuberculosis control programmes, they are calling for an emergency national response to air pollution. Dr Manish Gautam has proposed setting up a ‘Lung Health Task Group’ to ensure early detection, treatment and prevention. Without urgent action, experts warn that hospitals will face increasing pressure, healthcare costs will rise sharply, and vulnerable communities will suffer the most.

This warning is especially crucial in the context of Chhattisgarh because a large portion of its population already works in difficult conditions. Miners, families living near factories, and people who commute daily in congested cities are most vulnerable to this invisible threat. If this is still ignored today, dismissed as merely a consequence of weather or age, it will become a heavy burden for future generations.

This is not a distant possibility, but an unfolding disaster. The only difference is that it doesn't strike suddenly like a flood or earthquake, but affects us every day, with every breath. The warning is clear: if we don't act now, the biggest health challenge that India and Chhattisgarh will face after COVID-19 will come from the air, and by then, there may be no option left but regret.